82 COTTON 



small in size and contains only a small number of 

 seeds. 



It is said that the beautiful Dacca Cotton, from 

 which the famous muslins are made,. is of the 

 Neglectum type, and so are the varieties from 

 which the long cloth of Madras is manufactured. 



THE COTTON FIBER 



The commercial grading of cotton depends al- 

 most entirely on the ripeness, length, and fineness 

 of the cotton fiber. The long, fine, silky fibers of 

 the Sea Island varieties command the highest price, 

 while the native Indian and Short Upland staple of 

 America represent the lowest market values. 



The following table arranged by Evans shows 

 the average length and average diameter of the 

 staple of some of our best known varieties : 



LENGTH AND DIAMETER OF PRINCIPAL COTTON 



FIBERS 



Av. Length Av. Diam. 



Variety of Staple of Staple 



Sea Island 1.61 .000640 



New Orleans 1.02 .000775 



Texas 1 .00 .000763 



Upland 93 .000763 



Egyptian 1.41 .000655 



Native Indian .89 . 000844 



You will see in glancing at the above table that 

 the longer the staple the less is its diameter, a fact 

 which must always be kept in mind in any ex- 

 periments looking to the selection and improve- 

 ment of the cotton plant. 



